The Quest 3S was expected by many to simply be a budget version of the Quest 3, but it appears what Meta has done instead is co-opt in a bunch of (perfectly decent) components from the Meta Quest 2—in combination with a dash of the improvements from the Quest 3—to make a VR headset that sits somewhere between the two.

The first hint of that is the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a blog post are “100% compatible” with those used by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as well; and it shares the same single LCD panel, rather than using one panel per eye, like the Meta Quest 3.

Meta's Quest 3S blends Quest 2 hardware with Quest 3 performance, offering an affordable yet powerful VR experience.

This awesome bundle includes the max-capacity 512GB version of the Meta Quest 3 headset and its associated controllers, which normally sells for $650, but is now available under $500 at Amazon. The added Batman: Arkham Shadow and 3-month trial of Meta Quest+ is an additional $70 value dropped in for free.

It’s fair to say, then, that thanks to the newly-released Meta Quest 3S – coming in hot with the same amount of storage space wrapped neatly in a baseline $299.99 price – mixed-reality gaming is finally approachable to everyone who might have been in the market to upgrade from the Quest 2.

Meta Quest 3S is the latest iteration in the Meta Quest series that first launched in 2019 as the Oculus Quest VR headset. Even though it is not a performance upgrade over the Meta Quest 3, the intention is to make VR and mixed-reality even more accessible.

FixIt's Shahram Mokhtari took a peek inside the Meta Quest 3S, the cheaper (but not very) alternative to the Meta Quest 3.

The Meta Quest 3S has some of the best features of the Meta Quest 3, for $200 less. You’ll just need to accept the limited memory and lenses.